Even 16 years after it hit theaters, the moral question at this film's core is the ultimate conversation starter for couples everywhere.

Movie Grade: C-

DVD Grade: B

Film review by Dan Heaton.

If a billionaire offered you one million dollars to sleep with your wife, would you agree to it? If the person looked as
striking as Robert Redford, would that change her mind? This moral quandary generates the oddball premise of
Indecent Proposalˇan over-hyped morality play that never bothers to delve beneath the surface of this issue.
Instead, we must watch an extremely dull soap opera that oozes with melodrama. The plot device merely serves as
a gimmick to draw hordes of audiences to view attractive stars in various states of distress. The screenplay lacks
depth or emotions, and the supposedly startling revelations can be deciphered long before they appear on screen.

David and Diana Murphy (Woody Harrelson, Demi Moore) are the happy couple who eloped at a young age and
have stayed together ever since. David is an architect who spends his free time crafting the designs of his dream
house. To fulfill his vision, they take a chance and borrow money to create this strange monstrosity. The film treats
David like a talented architect, but this house does not live up to expectations. Unfortunately, a recession hits hard,
and they must face the dire possibility of losing the house. With only $5,000 in hand, the naďve couple travels to
Las Vegas with the idealistic goals of winning enough money to pay off all their debts. Their depressing financial
state gives more leverage to the million-dollar offer from John Gage (Redford), a sharp-dressed man who throws
around money like it grows on trees.

Demi Moore plays the striking Diana as a bright-eyed girl who completely adores her struggling husband. She utters
horrible statements like "Have I ever told you that I love you?" with a complete lack of conviction that weakens the
already poor material; her role in this story is to look stunning and speak in clich╚s. The worst offense occurs in the
voice-over narration, which adds little to the plot and sounds especially awkward. From the first few laugh-inducing
statements, it becomes difficult to take any of these lines seriously. In terms of looking beautiful, Moore succeeds
on every level, but her character's depth leaves something to be desired.

Robert Redford does provide a charming presence as the suave, unbelievably rich man with plans to charm Demi
Moore away. He remains virtually unflappable within all situations, including one where Diane enters a chic
restaurant and throws food all over his wealthy business partners. However, there's little reality to his character
beyond the style and money. Why is this man who could have millions of women across the world so enamored
with Diane? Gage tries to explain his intentions with a sad story from the past, but it still leaves us wanting to know
more about him. Redford gives his best effort within the confines of the screenplay, and few could play this part
better, but he's limited by the simplicity of the role. Sadly, Woody Harrelson fares much worse as the jealous
husband who basically throws his wife into Gage's arms. The film seems to relish making David as dull as is
humanly possible, and nothing interesting appears to be going on inside his head.

Indecent Proposal grossed over 100 million dollars in the United States alone ˇ largely due to Redford and
Moore's box office power. Also, the tease of an intriguing morality play lured audiences who expected more
complex fare. Instead, they received this irritating soap-opera-level story that equally insults the intelligence of the
viewers and the film's characters. Although the situation is different, the plot actually follows the "boy meets girl,
boy loses girl, boy wins girl back" formula that has been played to death over the years. Director Adrian Lyne (Fatal
Attraction, Lolita) has done some risky material before, but nothing here moves beyond the expected conventions.
A few quick love scenes appear early on and promise a steamier movie, but they disappear quickly once the plot
takes center stage. Instead, we're left with a simplistic creation filled with far too many monotonous situations.

Paramount bows Indecent Proposal on Blu-ray with an above-average 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation
that is rich in bright, vibrant colors. Images are almost always sharp and finely detailed, although quite a bit of
grain is present throughout the course of the film. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is an impressive, lossless mix that
keeps things mostly up front, while using the entire sound field occasionally. The only extra, a nice audio
commentary by director Adrian Lyne, was ported over from ParamountÝs old DVD release.